Several years ago, while researching Exploring Florida’s Botanical Wonders, I stumbled across the newly opened Robinson Preserve in Palma Sola. Managed by Manatee County and directly across the road from Palma Sola Botanical Gardens, this preserve of mud flats and mangrove-lined shores has one of the best observation tower views in Florida, as well as […]

At the Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge in Gautier, MS, conservation of fragile pine savannas and an aggressive re-introduction program have brought a sandhill crane subspecies back from the brink of extinction.

I was staying in Wakulla County last week while attending meetings in Tallahassee, and I took advantage of the time shift by enjoying some rambling about in the late afternoons. I stopped at the Wakulla County Visitor Center, along US 98 across from the historic springs in Panacea (or, more easy to see from the […]

Yesterday I needed some time to play in the woods, so off we went to Ravine Gardens State Park and Gold Head Branch State Park. To visit both in one day highlights how human intervention changes the natural landscape. Ravine Gardens was a WPA project in the 1930s to keep people employed, and became one […]

When I was driving out to the Ocala National Forest the other day, I heard a radio commercial for a new outfitter in town. Now I was saddened to see Brasington’s pull out of town some time ago, since they focused on gear for hiking and kayaking, so there has been a void in the […]